protection for legs?

[lovelylibrarian]

I'm starting to think that the shin guards wouldn't be a bad idea at all. On Saturday, I fell and got a nasty MTN bike version of road rash. What do you call it if it's on dirt/gravel? For some reason my right leg gets most of the abuse. Thanks for the suggestions for protection.

[Becky]

I'm pretty sure that it's still called road rash. Or maybe trail rash I have some awesome scars on both knees from trail rash. Heck, it was so bad at one point that the nurses at the campus health clinic knew me by name and would have wound care kits made up for me Hope that you're ok!

Anyhow, I think that shin and knee guards would be a great idea. You might feel more confident if you knew that falling wouldn't hurt as much. And more confidence leads to trying new things and developing new skills, I think.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

I can't remember the name of them but they look like something you would wear playing soccer. I bought them, wore them once and just couldn't stand em. I have a huge gash from those HUGE pedals that came with my Specialized and boy, all the pink spots from knee and elbow slides. I asked my dermatologist about how to get them to fade and he said Mederma.

Wear em with pride I say....

[atombessy]

I've done the skirt at work during the summer thing and had to field lots of questions from coworkers about the state of my legs (on this occasion i also had a few puncture wounds, in addition to the bruises and scratches). But oh well! they get over it, and they know my husband is too nice to beat me.....no other recommendations...bruises are how you know it's mt bike season!!!

[ima_bleeder]

I'm just wondering if any of you who wear guards have any advice for specifically XC riding.

Any ride in my 'neighborhood' has a lot of climbing, and the Specialized XC guards that I've tried chaffe my knee enough to make me bleed before the ride is over, and the hinge between the knee and shin portions of the guard create resistance that I totally don't need ... climbing is hard enough.

I'm not familiar with the guards mentioned here ... any advice about which guards might be the most light-weight, XC friendly?

[tattiefritter]

Any ride in my 'neighborhood' has a lot of climbing, and the Specialized XC guards that I've tried chaffe my knee enough to make me bleed before the ride is over, and the hinge between the knee and shin portions of the guard create resistance that I totally don't need ... climbing is hard enough.

I had this same thing when I bought shinnies for my MTB holiday, I won't wear them at any other time (think they are at the back of the wardrobe) but a silly spill at the beginning of the holiday could've put an end to it so I reluctantly wore them. On the pre-holiday test ride I got a chafed knee as I hadn't done the straps up tight enough when climbing. On the really long climbs on holiday we took them off as it was too hot to be climbing for an hour dressed like a stormtrooper but at other times I tightened the straps and covered my knees in Bodyglide and cleared any dust out that had gotten in under pads. I took the small pack of Bodyglide out with me and reapplied it frequently during the ride - seemed to work.

[lovelylibrarian]

Thanks. Every time my legs are about healed, I go out and injure myself again. For some reason, it's mostly my right leg. This weekend we are backpacking so I'll have some more time to heal.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with these "issues". I could have worse problems for sure.

I like how these look but haven't ordered them yet. Scroll down to the basic series. http://www.skinzprotectivegear.com/bicycleproduct.html

[ima_bleeder]

Those look promising. Thanks!

[Irulan]

Those look really hot to me. As in, sweaty. I've got a friend who's got something similar, maybe by Veggie Skins (??)

[SadieKate]

I like how these look but haven't ordered them yet. Scroll down to the basic series. http://www.skinzprotectivegear.com/bicycleproduct.html

I have these. I don't think they're hotter than anything else and they're certainly more comfortable for XC riding than others I've tried.

The trails I've been riding lately have a lot of overgrown manzanita and sage so I might break them out just for that. On the other hand, all the scrubbing means I don't have to shave my legs as much.

[Tabby]

I've taken to jeans, no shorts this summer. I've got bruises I didn't know I got until it 'colored up'! We have a lot of tight 'go-betweens' (2 trees) and they love to grab handle bars. Some have high roots that even flat pedaling snags on then. I affectionately call it tree-hugging or bark rash, especially on my forearms!

PJ